Saturday, October 13, 2007

Auction ends, but sale of house uncertain
The auction ended with a top bid of $253,000 for Canyon's historic Hudspeth House on Thursday, but the home's owners are pondering whether to accept the high bidder's offer.

MegaMarket 2007 kicks off Thursday
This year's MegaMarket 2007, a networking opportunity for business owners to develop new relationships with other businesses, will be from 11:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Ashmore Inn and Suites, 2301 E. Interstate 40.

Slumping sales force retailers to cut earnings forecast
NEW YORK - Several of the nation's largest retailers cut their earnings forecasts Thursday after lingering summer weather and an uncertain economy kept consumers from shopping last month and left the big merchants with disappointing sales.

People in Business
Four professors from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Amarillo have been named recipients of the 2007 President's Awards for their exceptional efforts on behalf of the school's Health Sciences Center. The awards will be presented Monday.

Dream turns into nightmare
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Soledad Aviles dreamed for years of owning a home, with a plot of land where he could grow corn and chiles as he did in his native Mexico. So he felt blessed last year when he learned he could buy a three-bedroom, single-story stucco house on West La Verne Avenue in Santa Ana.

Taxpayers need to double-check extensions
The Internal Revenue Service is urging taxpayers whose tax-filing extension runs out Monday to double-check their returns for often-overlooked tax breaks and then file their returns electronically using IRS e-file or the Free File system.

Baylor at No. 20 Kansas
After waiting 11 years to climb back into the Top 25, No. 20 Kansas doesn't want its ranking to slip away.

No. 23 Texas at Iowa State
Iowa State coach Gene Chizik will be thrilled to see Mack Brown for the first time in months. Chizik just wishes his mentor wasn't bringing his team with him.

Secret VIP newsletter 'comes with the territory'
Texas A & M athletic director Bill Byrne is on the hot seat as a high-profile official at a high-profile university. That seat might be a little hotter as the incident involving football coach Dennis Franchione and his secretive, for-pay newsletter continues to garner national attention.

Holy See's No. 2 will visit Cuba
VATICAN CITY - The Holy See's No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will go to Cuba, the highest level visit by a Vatican official to the Communist-run state during Pope Benedict XVI's tenure.

Dear Abby: Girl is being pursued by overdetermined boy
Dear Abby: I am 14 and in high school. There's this boy, "Jon," who has liked me for a long time. Recently a friend of his asked me if I'd ever consider being Jon's girlfriend. I told him no. I said I liked Jon, just not in that way. Obviously, the friend told Jon.

Heloise: Reader needs window cleaner 'recipe'
Dear Heloise: Would you kindly print the necessary ingredients for cleaning windows? I remember that rubbing alcohol was one of the items and have misplaced your instructions for the right amounts, etc. Thanks. - Mom, via e-mail

Dr. Gott: Blood-flow blockage not tied to Alzheimer's
Dear Dr. Gott: Because of dizziness, I had circulation tests of both my brain and the arteries in my neck which showed only minor hardening of the arteries. Does that mean I will have Alzheimer's from the hardening of the arteries?

Sandies too much for Central
Preachers might want to grab a video of the Amarillo High-San Angelo Central District 2-5A football opener Friday night and take lessons.

Levelland tops Borger
Levelland scored four times in the first quarter and rolled to a 57-20 nondistrict win against Borger.

Quick-scoring Falcons beat HP
Bushland remained undefeated on the season and picked up its third District 2-2A win Friday night, jumping all over Highland Park from the start for a 40-0 victory.

Vega 44 - Booker 7
Wade Meyer ran for two touchdowns and Brady Harwell threw for two TDs and ran for two more as Vega won its District 1-1A opener.

Stratford 47 - Spearman 7
Craig Kautz rushed for 166 yards and scored three touchdowns as Stratford opened District 1-2A play with a big win.

District 3-4A should be fun
The District 3-4A season opened Thursday night with Dumas at Randall. Tonight's games have Palo Duro visiting defending district champion Hereford, and Pampa hosting Caprock.

Putting points on the board
The Bushland Falcons have scored 220 points, with 100 of those coming from senior Todd Phillips. Phillips has caught eight passes, seven of which resulted in Falcon touchdowns, and has rushed for two scores. He has been successful on 28 PAT kicks, and has kicked six field goals.

Valley 58 - Crowell 21
Jacob Hancock ran for three touchdowns and added a 66-yard fumble return for another score as Valley cruised past Crowell in the six-man Division 1 District 6 opener for both teams.

Stratford's double threat
Stratford quarterback-linebacker Hunter Buckles has proven dangerous on both sides of the ball for the Elks, throwing for 231 yards and four touchdowns, while running for 297 yards and four touchdowns. In the Elks 31-0 victory against Dalhart last week, Buckles made an impact on defense, causing one fumble and making eight tackles.

Nazareth 42 - Springlake-Earth 12
Nazareth quarterback Nicky Rowland threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores as the Swifts raced by Springlake-Earth in the District 4-1A opener for both teams.

Canadian posts district victory
After a scoreless first quarter, Canadian put 24 consecutive points on the scoreboard, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to put Sanford-Fritch in the loss column in the teams' first game of the District 1-2A season.

Clarendon 26 - Memphis 25
Memphis failed to convert on a two-point conversion pass in the third quarter, and that was the difference as Clarendon pulled out the victory in the District 3-1A opener for both teams.

McLean 45 - Samnorwood 30
After Samnorwood struck for 16 points in the first quarter, McLean outscored the Eagles, 37-8, in the second and third periods to pull out a victory in the teams' six-man Division II, District 7 opener.

Board may OK funding
The board governing allocation of tax incentives for downtown revitalization Thursday considered pledging public funds to help a developer turn "a terrible, terrible eyesore" into a multimillion-dollar asset.

Toy gun causes Caprock lockdown
Amarillo police plan to move ahead with legal proceedings against two Tascosa High School students accused of beating another student last week even though the 47th District attorney's office refused to accept felony charges of aggravated assault Tuesday.

Battle of the region bands
Marching to swing music sometimes seems like trying to salsa and tango at the same time, said Nathan Garris, a junior in the River Road High School marching band.

Caprock High locked down
Three Caprock High School students were detained by Amarillo police officers after one or more of them allegedly waved a toy gun in front of the school.

Two teens indicted on burglary charges
Two Borger teens were indicted on a combined nine counts of burglary of a building and two counts of burglary of a habitation in connection with a string of church burglaries.

Jon Mark Beilue: WT, city closing the gap
The distance between West Texas A & M and Amarillo is not that far. Zip past a couple of car dealerships, and the Buffalo Chip, and basically that's it. It's maybe 12 miles or so along I-27 from the north end of the WT campus to the south end of Amarillo.

Thinking Out Loud
The classic "I'm With Stupid" T-shirts that point to whomever might be unfortunate enough to be standing next to the shirt's wearer may not be in style anymore, but we're willing to break them out in old-school fashion.

Letter: All levels of government could use reps like Perez
Potter County Commissioner Manny Perez will be the first person to tell you he is not articulate and that he gets sidetracked when speaking. However, that should never subject a person to ridicule by the media or another elected official.

Column -Rod Dreher: Mexico's gall is muy grande
DALLAS - An anti-defamation league for Mexican migrants to the United States? That's what the Mexican government is considering, taking a cue from American Jews in its latest effort to protect and defend the presence of its own citizens here illegally.

Letter: Street, prescription drug dealers share goal
I find it strange that when the folks of Amarillo discuss methamphetamine, they say that this horrible drug can never be stopped and that addiction to it can never be cured. Then, in the same breath, they speak of another child being placed on an ADD or ADHD drug. In many cases, the two are one and the same!

Randall cruises by Dumas
Few people saw this kind of blowout coming, based on the teams' records entering District 3-4A play.

Putting points on the board
The Bushland Falcons have scored 220 points, with 100 of those coming from senior Todd Phillips. Phillips has caught eight passes, seven of which resulted in Falcon touchdowns, and has rushed for two scores. He has been successful on 28 PAT kicks, and has kicked six field goals.

Nazareth 42 - Springlake-Earth 12
Nazareth quarterback Nicky Rowland threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores as the Swifts raced by Springlake-Earth in the District 4-1A opener for both teams.

Pampa stops Caprock, 11-0
Shavious Kelley caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Casey Trimble in the second quarter to lead Pampa past Caprock in the District 3-4A opener for both teams at Pampa.

Motley County 50 - Lazbuddie 0
Motley County continued its dominance with a victory against Lazbuddie to open play in six-man Division II District 7 play.

Herd takes defensive duel
HEREFORD - The last thing Hereford head football coach Don DeLozier and his Palo Duro counterpart Steve Parr considered was their teams scoring a total of seven points.

Canyon edges Snyder
Fake field goal trickery on the final play of the game didn't work for Snyder, allowing Canyon to pull off a 24-21 win against No. 8 Snyder in Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.

McLean 45 - Samnorwood 30
After Samnorwood struck for 16 points in the first quarter, McLean outscored the Eagles, 37-8, in the second and third periods to pull out a victory in the teams' six-man Division II, District 7 opener.

Valley 58 - Crowell 21
Jacob Hancock ran for three touchdowns and added a 66-yard fumble return for another score as Valley cruised past Crowell in the six-man Division 1 District 6 opener for both teams.

Happy 46 - Silverton 13
In the first game of six-man District 5 play, Happy took control early against Silverton and continued to pile on the points in an easy win.

District 3-4A should be fun
The District 3-4A season opened Thursday night with Dumas at Randall. Tonight's games have Palo Duro visiting defending district champion Hereford, and Pampa hosting Caprock.

Sandies too much for Central
Preachers might want to grab a video of the Amarillo High-San Angelo Central District 2-5A football opener Friday night and take lessons.

Stratford's double threat
Stratford quarterback-linebacker Hunter Buckles has proven dangerous on both sides of the ball for the Elks, throwing for 231 yards and four touchdowns, while running for 297 yards and four touchdowns. In the Elks 31-0 victory against Dalhart last week, Buckles made an impact on defense, causing one fumble and making eight tackles.

Bobcats edge Bucks in defensive thriller
WHITE DEER - Seven yards made the difference as Sunray handed White Deer a 7-0 defeat before 2,000 fans Friday night at Buck Stadium in the District 1-1A opener for both teams.

Clarendon 26 - Memphis 25
Memphis failed to convert on a two-point conversion pass in the third quarter, and that was the difference as Clarendon pulled out the victory in the District 3-1A opener for both teams.

Quick-scoring Falcons beat HP
Bushland remained undefeated on the season and picked up its third District 2-2A win Friday night, jumping all over Highland Park from the start for a 40-0 victory.

Stratford 47 - Spearman 7
Craig Kautz rushed for 166 yards and scored three touchdowns as Stratford opened District 1-2A play with a big win.

Friona 36 - River Road 0
Sawyer Reed threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more as Friona blanked River Road in District 2-2A action.

Canadian posts district victory
After a scoreless first quarter, Canadian put 24 consecutive points on the scoreboard, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to put Sanford-Fritch in the loss column in the teams' first game of the District 1-2A season.

Levelland tops Borger
Levelland scored four times in the first quarter and rolled to a 57-20 nondistrict win against Borger.

What It's Like
Valley's Jacob Hancock on catching the winning pass with five seconds left in a 41-36 win against Happy

Wagon Wheel history
Eastern New Mexico leads the series, 11-9. The home team has won only nine of 20 games. The longest winning streak is four games by ENMU (1999-2002). The most points scored is 56 (ENMU, 1992), the least points 0 (WT, 1990 and 1992). Widest margin of victory is 56 points (ENMU, 1992). Most points combined is 103 (2005), least points 17 (1995). Two games have gone into overtime, with WT winning both.